Self sufficient chameleon

[Ross and Eleanor]

We are trying to breed the majority of livefood for our male panther chameleon! Ideally I'd like to be able to not have to buy in any livefood. What other options are there? We currently breed:

-Fruit beetles Pachnoda marginata
-Morio worms
-Mealworms

We're based in London, so hornworms aren't an option here unfortunately, I think they're considered an invasive species? I'd also like to learn more about what stick insects are safe and easy to breed!

 

[leedragon]

We are trying to breed the majority of livefood for our male panther chameleon! Ideally I'd like to be able to not have to buy in any livefood. What other options are there? We currently breed:

-Fruit beetles Pachnoda marginata
-Morio worms
-Mealworms

We're based in London, so hornworms aren't an option here unfortunately, I think they're considered an invasive species? I'd also like to learn more about what stick insects are safe and easy to breed!

crickets, roaches( dubia, p nivea, hissers), grasshopers

 

[Ross and Eleanor]

crickets, roaches( dubia, p nivea, hissers), grasshopers

Thanks, I'll definitely be getting so hissing cockroaches. Are grasshoppers hard to breed I've never heard of anyone breeding them or are they more something you catch?

 

[leedragon]

Thanks, I'll definitely be getting so hissing cockroaches. Are grasshoppers hard to breed I've never heard of anyone breeding them or are they more something you catch?

you can breed them there a clips on youtube, when it comes down to breeding there are similar to crickets

 

[Andee]

If you are based in the UK you could try breeding locusts? I think they sell them in the UK and they can be found in pet stores I think... though I don't live in the UK I have heard of people buying them there. Here in the US they are illegal.

 

[nick barta]

Go to phasmatodia.com to look at stick insects. You will want to start out with Indian (Carausis morosus) they eat ivy oak and bramble. Pink-wings are IMO a better stick insect (Sipyloidea Siplus).

Email me at [email protected], and I will send you care sheets.

Go on EBAYuk search stick insects.

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[Ross and Eleanor]

you can breed them there a clips on youtube, when it comes down to breeding there are similar to crickets

Thanks I'll have a look!

If you are based in the UK you could try breeding locusts? I think they sell them in the UK and they can be found in pet stores I think... though I don't live in the UK I have heard of people buying them there. Here in the US they are illegal.

I've heard that locusts are a lot of work to breed, but I'll take another look at them! And yeah we can get them really easily in pet shops here.

Go to phasmatodia.com to look at stick insects. You will want to start out with Indian (Carausis morosus) they eat ivy oak and bramble. Pink-wings are IMO a better stick insect (Sipyloidea Siplus).

Email me at [email protected], and I will send you care sheets.

Go on EBAYuk search stick insects.

CHEERS!

Nick

Thanks that's a great idea, I had Indian stick insects as a kid and they bred so quickly! I'm sure our panther would love them too!

 

[Rufi0]

Hey Ross i'm also based in London. I set up my Dubia colony using http://www.rickslivefood.co.uk. They do starter breeding kits of Dubia. I also buy my calciworms from rick also, these are quite tricky to breed though.

For setting up colonies for locusts, brown crickets and superworms i'd have a look at
http://www.onlinereptileshop.co.uk/. You can buy in bulk by the 1000's.

For setting up silkworm colonies have a look at http://www.silkwormstore.co.uk/. They also do breeding kits !

Good Luck

 

[Ross and Eleanor]

Hey Ross i'm also based in London. I set up my Dubia colony using http://www.rickslivefood.co.uk. They do starter breeding kits of Dubia. I also buy my calciworms from rick also, these are quite tricky to breed though.

For setting up colonies for locusts, brown crickets and superworms i'd have a look at
http://www.onlinereptileshop.co.uk/. You can buy in bulk by the 1000's.

For setting up silkworm colonies have a look at http://www.silkwormstore.co.uk/. They also do breeding kits !

Good Luck

Hi! Great to hear from another keeper in London, what chameleons do you keep? Thanks for the link, the prices on some things are great! I'm trying to track down Madagascan hissers for decent prices, Eleanor is a bit put off by the wings of dubia roaches I think hissers breed a lot more slowly in my previous experience though? Calci worms are fly larvae aren't they? Thanks for the help! The silkworms look great! Have you ever bred them?

 

[Rufi0]

I have one Panther Chameleon called Nosy he's just over a year old now. I think I saw hissers on sale at exotic pets, but they were for pets so are quite expensive

http://www.exotic-pets.co.uk/hissing-cockroaches.html

Yea Nosy doesn't seem to go for the male Dubia's either. I either give him big juveniles or a female. But I have quite a colony now so feeding females doesn't harm the numbers too much.

Calci worms are black soldier fly larvae. Have found them to be great. They are really easy to feed, just all your vegetable scraps. Nosy loves them. When they turn into flies I put these in his enclosure too and he hunts them down so gets to be a little hunter. Breeding these guys on the other hand is an entirely different matter. You need the right temperature, light and flying space as they mate on the wing. A little more complicated indoors.

In terms of silkworms i was going to breed them. But then discovered Nosy didn't like them so they went to waste. I've reintroduced them back to him recently and he's found a new found love for them so I was thinking about giving them a try.

 

[Ross and Eleanor]

I have one Panther Chameleon called Nosy he's just over a year old now. I think I saw hissers on sale at exotic pets, but they were for pets so are quite expensive

http://www.exotic-pets.co.uk/hissing-cockroaches.html

Yea Nosy doesn't seem to go for the male Dubia's either. I either give him big juveniles or a female. But I have quite a colony now so feeding females doesn't harm the numbers too much.

Calci worms are black soldier fly larvae. Have found them to be great. They are really easy to feed, just all your vegetable scraps. Nosy loves them. When they turn into flies I put these in his enclosure too and he hunts them down so gets to be a little hunter. Breeding these guys on the other hand is an entirely different matter. You need the right temperature, light and flying space as they mate on the wing. A little more complicated indoors.

In terms of silkworms i was going to breed them. But then discovered Nosy didn't like them so they went to waste. I've reintroduced them back to him recently and he's found a new found love for them so I was thinking about giving them a try.

Thanks for the link! Those are quite expensive but not as bad as most I've found, I guess it will cost a fair bit to set up and get them breeding! I'll order some of those with our next livefood, our chameleon loves moths so I'm sure he'll like any that mature as well! Hmm, I think I'll try them with our chameleon and see what the reaction is like. Thanks for the help!

 

[jajeanpierre]

Go to phasmatodia.com to look at stick insects. You will want to start out with Indian (Carausis morosus) they eat ivy oak and bramble. Pink-wings are IMO a better stick insect (Sipyloidea Siplus).

Email me at [email protected], and I will send you care sheets.

Go on EBAYuk search stick insects.

CHEERS!

Nick

Nick, why do you think pink wings are better? I have to say their wings are really beautiful, like fairy wings, but I never see them use them.

 

[Rufi0]

Hows the insects colonies coming along Ross ? I noticed hissers on Rickslivefood the other day

http://www.rickslivefood.co.uk/Giant-V-Horn-Madagascan-Hissing-Roaches/View-all-products.html

Still quite expensive.

Had my first experiment with an Indian Stick Insect this morning.

Nosy seems to be a fan

https://instagram.com/p/4Be_5vlTrZ/?taken-by=rufiodesign

 

[Ross and Eleanor]

Hows the insects colonies coming along Ross ? I noticed hissers on Rickslivefood the other day

http://www.rickslivefood.co.uk/Giant-V-Horn-Madagascan-Hissing-Roaches/View-all-products.html

Still quite expensive.

Had my first experiment with an Indian Stick Insect this morning.

Nosy seems to be a fan

https://instagram.com/p/4Be_5vlTrZ/?taken-by=rufiodesign

They're going good thanks, we have breeding morio worms and fruit beetles going well and I've found a good cheap supplier of hissing cockroaches on RFUK. Haha yeah he definitely likes those! I see a lot of people who get some and they breed out of control so I'll look into that!